On Thursday, the benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty experienced a decline from their previous record levels and closed lower in a volatile trading session. This was primarily attributed to profit-taking in the financials, IT, and oil sectors following a two-day rally, as well as negative trends observed in the US and European markets.
The 30-share BSE Sensex settled at 63,238.89, registering a decrease of 284.26 points or 0.45%. Initially, the benchmark index reached an all-time high of 63,601.71 during early trading, but it faced volatility and dropped to a low of 63,200.63, marking a decline of 322.52 points or 0.50% throughout the day.
The NSE Nifty ended at 18,771.25, down by 85.60 points or 0.45%.
Among the Sensex constituents, notable underperformers included Bajaj Finance, Tata Motors, Asian Paints, Power Grid, NTPC, Infosys, Nestle, Reliance Industries, and UltraTech Cement. On the other hand, major gainers included Larsen & Toubro, Tata Steel, HDFC, Bharti Airtel, HDFC Bank, and Mahindra & Mahindra.
V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, noted that a negative factor from a global perspective was Federal Reserve Chairman Powell’s statement during the Congressional testimony, indicating that “the process of getting inflation back to 2% has a long way to go.” This suggested the possibility of further rate hikes, potentially two more, within the ongoing rate hiking cycle.
In the Asian markets, Seoul closed in positive territory, while Tokyo settled lower. European equity markets were trading down, and the US markets ended in negative territory on Wednesday.
The global oil benchmark, Brent crude, experienced a decline of 1.39% and settled at USD 76.05 per barrel.
According to exchange data, Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) purchased equities worth ₹4,013.10 crore on Wednesday.
On Wednesday, the BSE benchmark climbed 195.45 points or 0.31% to reach a record closing high of 63,523.15, while the Nifty advanced 40.15 points or 0.21% to end at its all-time closing peak of 18,856.85.
